MSK Advanced Practitioner / First Contact Physiotherapist

Pier Health Group Ltd; Weston-super-Mare; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare provider in Weston-super-Mare is seeking an experienced MSK Advanced Practitioner / First Contact Physiotherapist to deliver patient care, manage complex caseloads, and provide specialist assessments. The role requires a strong clinical background, excellent communication skills, and the ability to operate autonomously within a primary care setting. Join to make a significant impact on patient pathways and healthcare delivery.

Benefits

Robust CPD portfolio support

Quality improvement opportunities

Integrative healthcare model exposure

Qualifications

• Minimum of 5 years postgraduate MSK physiotherapy clinical experience.
• Experience as a First Contact Practitioner in Primary Care.
• Good organizational and time management skills.

Responsibilities

• Provide expert clinical assessments for musculoskeletal conditions.
• Manage a complex caseload while promoting self-management.
• Ensure accurate record-keeping in line with legal responsibilities.

Skills

Clinical assessment

Injection therapy

Communication skills

Advanced diagnostic skills

Self-management promotion

Education

HCPC registration

BSc Physiotherapy

FCP accreditation Masters level evidence

Diploma in Injection Theory

Job description

MSK Advanced Practitioner / First Contact Physiotherapist

We're seeking an enthusiastic, highly skilled First Contact Practitioner (FCP) to join our e team. This is your chance to operate autonomously, using your advanced clinical expertise to deliver exceptional patient care right from the start.

Lead Clinical Change: You'll be the primary decision‑maker for patients with MSk conditions, utilising advanced skills like injection therapy, non‑medical prescribing (if qualified), and diagnostic ordering (e.g., X‑ray, MRI).

Integrated Future: Play a pivotal role in the BNSSG integrated MSK pathway, shaping the future of primary care and targeting health inequalities.

Develop and Grow: We fully support your professional journey. Maintain your expertise through a robust CPD portfolio, contribute to quality improvement, and serve as an expert resource to GPs, nurses, and paramedics.

Impact Patients Directly: Manage complex and varied caseloads, focusing on quick, accurate triage, self‑management promotion, and ensuring patients access the absolute best care pathways.

Main duties of the job

This role places you at the clinical frontline, acting as a specialist MSk first point of contact for patients. Your main duties involve:

Initial Triage and Diagnosis: Quickly and accurately assessing patients with musculoskeletal conditions referred directly to you, using advanced clinical reasoning to rule out serious pathology ("red flags").

Best Care Decisions: Determining the optimal management plan instantly, which often involves encouraging self‑management, or making direct referrals to specialists (orthopaedics, rheumatology, etc.), diagnostics (X‑rays, MRI), or other services (Pain Clinic, talking therapies).

Advanced Clinical Intervention: Delivering immediate, advanced treatments as needed, such as performing joint injections and initiating prescriptions, where qualified.

Guiding the Pathway: Effectively managing the patient's entire MSk journey, ensuring seamless integration across primary and secondary care services.

Clinical Leadership: Providing expert advice and contributing to the education of other clinical staff (GPs, nurses) within the practice.

About us

Pier Health Group is a pioneering GP Super Partnership and one of the largest Primary Care Networks (PCNs) in England. We were formed by local practices in Weston-super-Mare, Worle, and surrounding North Somerset villages, uniting under a powerful vision: to provide sustainable, effective, and outstanding healthcare for our local communities. Our scale allows us to be resilient and be courageous in trying new, bold approaches to patient care.

Job responsibilities

Clinical Responsibilities & Skills

To abide by HCPC and CSP Codes of Professional Conduct, and work in line with all areas of CSP Core Standards of Practice, as well as Practice policies and procedural framework. As an autonomous practitioner be professionally and legally accountable for all aspects of own work including direct and indirect patient care

Clinical Assessment - Provide expert clinical assessment and reasoning skills (with enhanced knowledge of potential differential diagnoses) in order to determine the optimal treatment pathway. Work autonomously and within a short timeframe.

Communication Skills - Demonstrate enhanced levels of communication, using shared‑decision making skills and motivational interviewing techniques to enable patients to make joint decisions about their care and work towards planned goals. Use both verbal and non‑verbal communication tools with those patients who may have communication barriers or impairments (such as non‑English speaking, blind, deaf, learning difficulties, dysphagia).

Convey information in a way that avoids jargon and negative descriptors. Be able to communicate unwelcome diagnosis, prognosis or limitations of management to patients and carers where expectations may be unachievable or unavailable.

Be able to manage patients who may be distressed, angry or confused.

Communicate effectively, using a variety of methods, with colleagues and other professionals to ensure information is accurately and appropriately shared to support a pathway of care.

Capacity Ensure patients have the capacity to understand what is being discussed and are able to give valid, informed consent for treatment and work within a legal framework with patients who lack the capacity to consent to treatment.

Differential Diagnosis - Have knowledge of red flags, potential MSk masqueraders and in cases of uncertainty, when to appropriately refer back to the GP. Be aware of the boundaries of one's own scope of practice and manage clinical risk accordingly, understanding the importance of safety netting or monitoring patients at higher risk.

Diagnostic Skills - Use advanced diagnostic skills to order and act on the appropriate investigation, according to the local pathways, these may include X‑ray referral, MRI, US, NCS, and/or blood tests.

Clinical treatment skills - Use a range of enhanced clinical skills such as:-

joint & soft tissue injection and joint aspiration where indicated

non-medical prescribing

prescribing of evidence-based rehabilitation of common MSK conditions

Provide immediate treatment when indicated and be aware of which patients require monitoring or follow‑up.

Triage - Be aware of all referral pathways including referrals to orthopaedics, rheumatology, neurology, pain clinic, physiotherapy, podiatry, falls services, exercise therapy, talking therapies and voluntary sectors. Have up‑to‑date knowledge of current CCG criteria‑cased access for orthopaedic surgical referral.

Integration in BNSSG - The BNSSG Healthier Together partnership are working together on an integrated MSK pathway. First contact practitioners are an integral part of the pathway. FCPs should work to the agreed pathways and protocols as described by the MSK programme board. FCPs should work with the MSK programme board partners, to ensure that these principles are embedded in MSK primary care as described in the MSK model.

Complex Caseload - Independently manage a wide and varied caseload including complex patients with co‑morbidities, frailty and complex needs. Promote self‑management of long term conditions, signposting patients to organisations that offer ongoing support. Understand the management of chronic pain and the local pathways available such as referral to Pain clinic, CBT, talking therapies and online resources. Support the patients understanding of pain and management of their pain in line with these local pathways.

Health Promotion Be aware of Public Health Initiatives, support preventative interventions and promote health and wellbeing through social prescribing, for example smoking cessation services, weight management and increased physical activity. Use motivational interviewing techniques to facilitate behaviour change.

Record Keeping - Maintain accurate, comprehensive and timely records in line with legal and professional responsibilities

Governance - Demonstrating commitment for the role, you must possess a strong desire to continually improve, developing a culture that improves quality initiating, promoting and monitoring systems which govern and improve quality. Contribute to Quality Improvement initiatives.

Competence - Take individual responsibility for personal development. Through an annual appraisal review will be able to demonstrate MSk Practitioner skills and competence with a portfolio of evidence aligned to the MSK Core Capability Framework. Use a wide range of reflective CPD activities, related to personal development, service development and patient care, as specified in the HCPC Standards. Identify learning needs and set personal goals.

Maintain competence in advanced practice skills by completing additional competency frameworks, this may include injection competencies, IRMER training, RPS NMP competencies.

Maintain all core training as required by Local Policy such as Basic Life Support, Infection Control, Medicines Management, Data Protection, Safeguarding Children & Adults, Equality & Diversity, mental capacity

Education - Be a source of expert MSK advice and contribute to local in‑service training nurses, paramedics and GP colleagues. Be actively involved in Patient Groups and development of MSk services.

Research & Audits - Where possible actively support National research and contribute to local audits. Use research evidence to maintain quality and best practice for patient care. Identify areas of service improvement and work with patients, GPs and the MDT team to implement change.

Confidentiality:

• In the course of seeking treatment, patients entrust us with, or allow us to gather, sensitive information in relation to their health and other matters. They do so in confidence and have the right to expect that staff will respect their privacy and act appropriately
• In the performance of the duties outlined in this Job Description, the post‑holder may have access to confidential information relating to patients and their carers, Surgery staff and other healthcare workers. They may also have access to information relating to the Surgery as a business organisation.All such information from any source is to be regarded as strictly confidential
• Information relating to patients, carers, colleagues, other healthcare workers or the business of the Surgery may only be divulged to authorised people in accordance with the Surgery policies and procedures relating to confidentiality and the protection of personal and sensitive data

Health & Safety:

The post‑holder will assist in promoting and maintaining their own and others health, safety and security as defined in the surgery Health & Safety Policy, the surgery Health & Safety Manual, and the surgery Infection Control policy and published procedures. This will include:

Using personal security systems within the workplace according to Surgery guidelines

Identifying the risks involved in work activities and undertaking such activities in a way that manages those risks

Making effective use of training to update knowledge and skills

Using appropriate infection control procedures, maintaining work areas in a tidy and safe way and free from hazards

Actively reporting of health and safety hazards and infection hazards immediately when recognised

Keeping own work areas and general / patient areas generally clean, assisting in the maintenance of general standards of cleanliness consistent with the scope of the job holders role

Undertaking periodic infection control training (minimum annually)

Equality & Diversity:

The post‑holder will support the equality, diversity and rights of patients, carers and colleagues, to include:

Acting in a way that recognises the importance of people's rights, interpreting them in a way that is consistent with Surgery procedures and policies, and current legislation

Respecting the privacy, dignity, needs and beliefs of patients, carers and colleagues

Behaving in a manner which is welcoming to and of the individual, is non‑judgmental and respects their circumstances, feelings priorities and rights

Person Specification

Qualifications

• HCPC registration
• BSc Physiotherapy
• FCP accreditation Masters level evidence (portfolio or MSc module)
• Diploma in Injection Theory
• IRMer Training & experience of ordering X‑rays
• Non‑Medical Prescribing
• MSc Advanced Clinical Practice

Experience

• A minimum of 5 years postgraduate MSk physiotherapy clinical experience
• Experience of working as a First Contact Practitioner in Primary Care
• Experience of working in Orthopaedic triage / assessment service
• Evidence of involvement in service redesign for the benefits of patients utilising research & audit skills

Other

• Knowledge of local orthopaedic pathways
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
• Ability to educate both patients and clinicians
• Experience of education and willingness to support in‑service training
• Good organisational and time management skills
• Ability to innovate and use own initiative
• Good information technology skills
• Confidence / motivation & enthusiasm for the role
• Able to manage demanding and challenging workload
• Active member of clinical specialist group

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.